Disclaimer: Do I write like JK Rowling? Definitely not.

A/N: to my Lovely Reviewers, thank you bunches! I love you guys!

And now the long awaited 25th chapter!

Chapter 25: Surprises of a Different Kind

"The Dark Lord is planning something," Severus Snape informed the Headmaster on Friday evening. For the last couple of weeks, Snape had become concerned on account of he hadn't met with Voldemort in a while. He suspected that the Dark Lord knew of his traitorous acts and he didn't want to burden the Headmaster with more of his own problems, but he had no other choice.

"You say that you haven't been to the last few Death Eater meetings?"

Snape nodded grimly. "About two months ago, he told me that I was needed here at Hogwarts and I shouldn't worry about attending the upcoming Death Eater meetings. He said that when I was needed, he would have someone contact me in person," Snape accounted surly.

"Do you have any idea of what he might be planning?" Dumbledore asked him, deep in thought.

"All I know is that it will be worse than what happened at Diagon Alley." The Potions master sighed wearily. "I'm sorry that I cannot be more of a help to you."

"Severus, don't ever think that you are not of help to me, or to the wizarding world for that matter. You lay your life on the line everyday, just so we might be able to save a few more innocent people," Dumbledore replied softly. "Always know that you're needed and that you will be needed a great deal more in the future."

The older man's words cut deeply into his heart. "Thank you, Albus." Snape expressed his gratitude with small words, but Dumbledore knew that they meant so much more.

"You are welcome, Severus." He cleared his throat, a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"I might be able to ask around," Snape turned back to the matter at hand, "without rising any suspicion," he added.

"Yes, yes of course," Dumbledore said. "I always knew that I kept the younger Death Eaters here for a reason."

"Is that the only reason?" Snape asked, trying to hide his curiosity and failing.

"No. I keep them here to try and save them from a life full of servitude and horror," Dumbledore told him gravely, appearing even older than before.

Ginny walked into the Great Hall the following Wednesday morning, ignoring the few stares that were sent her way, including one of a certain Slytherin.

"Good morning," said Hermione in a some-what happier tone as Ginny sat down next to her.

Ginny smiled. "Good morning... So, what did the note say today? Anything new and interesting?"

Hermione, who was about to take a bite of her buttered bread, faltered at the mention of a note. "Note? What on Earth are you talking about?" she asked, acting clueless.

"You suck at lying worse than I do." Ginny grinned.

Hermione laughed. "Okay, I give."

"And?"

"And Ron has been sending me letters ever since his little outburst a couple of weeks ago."

"Well, what do they say? Are they love notes or apologies?" she asked excitedly, wincing at the fact that she sounded like a little school girl who loved gossip.

"Both," Hermione admitted, blushing lightly. "But that doesn't mean that he can get me back just by saying he's sorry," she replied firmly.

"Right, of course not," Ginny said with a small smile.

"I'm serious!" Hermione cried, annoyed at the knowing look on her friend's face.

"Okay, I believe you!" Ginny lied, holding up her hands in defense. "You do know that he's really sorry for what he did, don't you?" she asked her softly.

"I want to believe that he is." Hermione sighed, pushing the food around on her plate.

"He is," Ginny confirmed. "And look, I know that he can be the biggest prat sometimes, but I also know that he loves you. He's been miserable for the last month. All he does is mope, complain, and for some odd reason, does his homework. Even Harry is starting to get freaked out by him."

Hermione. "Well at least I'm not the only one that's miserable."

"You have no idea how miserable he really is," Ginny replied, a serious expression on her face. "And I think that both of you would be happier if you just talked to each other again. You're going to come to his birthday party, right?"

"He's having a birthday party?" Hermione asked, surprised. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"It would have been kind of hard to tell you. Everyone was afraid that if they mentioned Ron around you, you would blow your top and go crazy or something," Ginny explained. "When Parvati told me about the letters you were receiving, I could only hope that they were from Ron. So I decided to give it a shot and here I am."

"Why didn't Harry do it?" asked Hermione, a little put out that her best friend didn't want to talk to her.

"He's a chicken when it comes to stuff like this," Ginny stated simply.

"So much for being a Gryffindor." Hermione sniffed, trying not to laugh in amusement. "So, when did you schedule the party?"

"We just figured out all the plans on Sunday night, so the party was set for this Saturday night around seven. I know that Ron's birthday is on March the first, but Harry thought that Ron could use a little cheering up. Plus, March the first is on a Monday and many of the seventh years are starting to use their free time to study for the NEWTs," Ginny said happily, thinking that everything was going according to plan.

Hermione looked flabbergasted. "People waited this long to start studying for the NEWTs? We only have three and a half months until we take them!" she yelled.

Ginny winced at her shrill voice, them smiled. 'Finally! There's some of the Hermione that I've been missing!' "Well, you can tell everyone that at the party," she replied slyly.

"I certainly will," Hermione huffed, but they both knew she was going for a different reason.

"Am I invited to this party?" Stephanie asked, plopping herself down at the Gryffindor table. No one gave her a second glance, since most of the the students were used to her sitting at their table because of her younger sister, who was a Gryffindor. Plus, for the last two years she had sat with Ginny during meal times, and now even more so since she started dating Harry.

"Hasn't Harry asked you to be his date yet?" Ginny asked her curiously.

"I haven't really spoken to him since Saturday. The only time I see him are in between classes," she said, biting into an apple.

"You mean to tell me that you two haven't snogged since Saturday?" Ginny looked at her doubtfully.

"I swear to Merlin. Your prat of a brother has been taking up all of his time," Stephanie told Ginny grumpily, then she turned to Hermione, "No offence or anything."

"None taken," Hermione responded, amused.

"Speaking of prats," Stephanie replied to Ginny, "when are you going to talk to Draco?"

Ginny shrugged, not really liking the idea of talking to him period. "Why should I talk to him at all? Shouldn't he be the one to come up to me and apologize? After all, he's the one that said all those things, not me," she pointed out.

"I think that he would've already," Stephanie started, "if he hadn't been threatened by your brother."

"What?" Ginny asked, astounded at her brother's actions again. "You would think that Ron would learn his lesson by now!"

"It's just a big brother thing," Hermione said. "I have a muggle friend who has a brother that's more overprotective than Ron, Fred and George put together."

Ginny felt much sympathy towards Hermione's friend. "Poor girl."

"Yeah, poor-little-girl," replied Stephanie. "So, when are you going to talk to my annoying, moping cousin?"

"I'm not talking to that asshole." Ginny crossed her arms stubbornly.

"I know that if you don't talk to him now, then you'll regret it later on," Stephanie said knowingly. "Just give him a chance to explain himself," she pleaded.

"Explain himself?" Ginny snorted. "What could he possibly say to me that would make any difference?"

"I guess you'll have to find that out for yourself," Stephanie said innocently.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "What do you know that I don't know?"

"How do you know that she knows something that you don't know?" Hermione cut in.

"Because she has that look! The one that she gets when she's hiding something!" Ginny said fiercely.

"I do not," Stephanie argued.

"Yes, you do!"

"You two are very weird," Hermione cut in again.

"We are not!" The exclaimed in unison.

"Okay," Hermione said slowly. "I'm going to head off to class now, so I'm not late." She gave them a weird look, then left.

"What have you got to lose if you talk to him?" Stephanie asked Ginny.

"How about the last bit of pride that I have left," Ginny protested angrily. "I made a fool out of myself in front of everyone. If looks could kill, I would be dead, what with some of the glares that the Slytherin girls are giving me. And how do you think it feels when some of your housemates look at you in disappointment?"

Stephanie looked like she was mentally counting off something in her head. "All that stuff has happened to me before."

"Well th-that isn't fair! You're very... different," Ginny sputtered.

"Hey!" Stephanie scowled. "I'll have you know that I'm not different. Just very special."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Same thing."

"Whatever." Stephanie sighed. "But you know that you can't stay away from him forever. If it has to happen, it might as well be sooner than later."

'She did have a point,' Ginny contemplated. 'And what if it did somehow make the situation better by talking to Draco?' "Fine, I'll talk to him," she relented. "But it'll have to be after Ron's birthday party, then maybe I can actually have a good weekend."

She did have a point, Ginny contemplated. And what if it did somehow make the situation better by talking to Draco? "Fine, I'll talk to him" he relented. "But itll be after Ron's birthday party, then maybe I can actually have a good weekend."

"Yay!" Stephanie squealed.

"Did you just squeal?" Ginny asked disbelieving.

"What if I did?" Stephanie challenged.

"Well, you never squeal..."

"So?"

"Why have you been acting so weird lately!" Ginny cried at her in annoyance.

"Oh look, the bell just rung for class," Stephanie said in a rush and ran out of the Great Hall, before she could say anything else.

"We don't have a bloody bell," Ginny mumbled to herself, following her friend to class.

Draco eyed his cousin warily. She was definitely up to something, but he had no clue as to what it could be. "Why have you been so giddy lately?" he asked.

"I haven't been giddy," Stephanie grunted. She was busy doing her normal stretches and two hundred crunches of the day.

"Well, I know you're up to something." He handed her a water bottle.

"I'm not up to something," she denied, taking a swig.

Draco looked doubtful. "Whatever you say. So, I saw you talking to Ginny the other day in the Great Hall..." he replied nonchantly.

"Yeah." Stephanie grinned.

Draco scowled. "Well, did she say anything?"

"Of course she said stuff."

"What kind of.. stuff?" he asked smoothly, or so he thought.

Stephanie's grin grew wider. "You mean did she say anything about you? Well yeah, of course she said stuff about you."

"What the bloody hell did she say?" He became impatient, not bothering to hide his interest any longer.

"She said, and I quote, 'I'm not talking to that asshole."

"Well thank you for that lovely bit of information," he remarked sarcastically.

Stephanie shrugged. "You asked."

"Is that all she said?" Draco was practically dying to talk to Ginny. He had to physically hold himself back everytime he saw her, and it didn't help that he saw her about five times a day. Her older brother, Weasley wasn't the problem at all, it was the fact that they had Death Eaters at school. If someone saw him come up to her and start talking to her, then people might get suspicious, but if Ginny came up to him, then it wouldn't be a problem.

"She's going to talk to you, Draco, so get a grip." Stephanie saw how badly her cousin wanted to talk to Ginny, but knew that he couldn't take that kind of risk.

"She is? When?" he asked, feeling somewhat hopeful.

"I dunno, but it won't be until after her brother's birthday party."

"Party?" Draco sulked. "Are you going to this party?"

"Yep. Harry asked me to come with him yesterday," Stephanie smiled, looking foward to snogging her boyfriend.

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow night in the Gryffindor common room."

"You're actually going in the Gryffindor common room?" he asked her, a little disgusted.

"I've been in there before." She smirked. "It's a helluva lot better than this dingy old thing." She gestured to their common room.

"This place isn't that bad," Draco protested unconvincingly.

"Yeah," Stephanie snorted, "because living in a dungeon for six years has definitely made me healthier."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"So I convinced Ginny that you had an explanation as to why you acted the way that you did," she said, hoping that he did have a reasonable explanation.

"Really?" He seemed skeptic.

"Okay..maybe not convinced. She pretty much thinks that you have no reason for saying what you said to her," Stephanie told him truthfully.

"She's right," he admitted. "I had no reason to say what I said, but I was just so confused and.."

"Hey," she began quietly, "I know how you feel. We're Slytherins, we aren't used to these kinds of emotions," Stephanie joked.

He smiled at her feebly. "What the hell am I supposed to say to her?"

"For starters, you could be honest with her and tell her how you feel," Stephanie rationalized.

He frowned. "Yeah and have her laugh in my face? I don't think so."

"You know that Ginny would never do that," Stephanie argued. "She might think that you belong in St. Mungos, but she wouldn't laugh in your face."

"Yeah, I know." He knew that Ginny was to kindhearted to do such a thing and thats one of the things he loved about her.

"So then, whats the problem?" She wanted to know.

'The problem is, how do you explain to someone that you want to be with them, after you've practically told them that you didn't want them to be with them, but that you didn't mean to say that you didn't not want to be with them?' Draco thought to himself. Expressing emotions was a very complicated thing.

The problem is, how do you explain to someone that you want to be with them after you've practically told them that you didn't want them to be with them, but that you didn't mean to say that you didn't not want to be with them? Draco thought to himself. Expressing emotions was a very complicated thing.

"Nothing, nothing at all," he answered her finally.

Ron entered the common room on Saturday night, feeling truly happy... something that he hadn't felt in ages. He was a man on a mission, a big mission. Harry had thought that he went bonkers when Ron told him what he was going to do to get Hermione back, but he didn't care. His little sister had said that it was the most ridiculous thing that she had ever heard, but that nothing could've been more romantic.

"Hey, mate!" Harry yelled over the music that was being played full blast in the common room, courtesy of the twins. Ginny had invited Fred and George, despite all the protests that came from Ron when she suggested it.

"Hiya, Harry!" he called back, grabbing a butterbeer off of the refreshment table. "Have you seen Hermione?"

"She was dancing with Ginny and Stephanie the last time I saw her," he answered, looking over the heads of people who were bopping to the music.

"Dancing?" Ron asked him in shock. "Hermione was dancing?"

"Yes." Harry grinned.

"Did Fred and George put firewhiskey in the punch?" he wondered, still bewildered that his Hermione was actually dancing.

"Um, I dunno. But since you mentioned it, the girls were acting kind of tipsy when I talked to them," Harry said, remembering that the girls were acting crazier than usual.

"I'm gonna kill 'em," Ron said angrily. If Hermione was drunk, there was no way that he could go through with his plan now. "Where are they?"

"Over there." Harry pointed to the couch, which currently consisted of two couples snogging like crazy.

"Did Angelina and Alicia come with them?" Ron asked, squinting to get a better look.

Harry nodded. "Yep, I think so."

"Well they have to be a little tipsy as well, because I know Angelina and Alicia and they would never do..." Ron grimaced, "that in public."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. Realization crossed his face and he smiled. "Say, you'll be okay by yourself right? I want to go find Stephanie."

"Sure," Ron said, trying not to think of what Harry was wanting to do with his Slytherin girlfriend. "I have to go pummel Fred and George anyway." He made his way through the crowd, clearing his throat in annoyance when he stopped at the couch.

Fred and George looked up simultaneously and grinned at their younger brother. "Happy Birthday, Ron!" they chorused.

"Did you put firewhiskey in the punch?" Ron demanded.

"Firewhiskey?" Angelina and Alicia repeated.

The twins groaned. "We only put a little in the punch," Fred began.

"To liven up the party," George finished.

"You what?" Angelina glared at Fred.

"Sorry luv," he apologized. "But we needed a good snog."

"Yeah, we had a hard day at work." George pouted to Alicia, referring to their joke shop, WWW.

"Whatever," they replied in unison, getting up from the sofa.

"Hey, don't leave!" Fred yelled after them, but they didn't listen.

"See what you did!" George exclaimed, glaring at Ron.

"Me! Hermione is now drunk because of you!" he shouted.

"Drunk? Ron, I'm not drun,." Hermione slurred, putting her arm around Ron's waist.

"Hermione!" they all yelled loudly. And they weren't yelling because of her current status, but because of her current attire. She wore a bright red halter top and some very low rise jeans.

"What?" she giggled.

"Hermione!" Ginny squeaked, staggering towards them.

"I said what!" Hermione screamed in her face, getting annoyed at everyone calling her name.

Ginny's face bunched up in disgust. "Damn, you really need a breath mint," she said, waving her hand in the air.

"Ginny!" The twins and Ron looked at her in shock. And it wasn't because of her language, but because of her choice of an outfit as well. She wore a dark green halter and some very tight black leather pants.

"I do not!" Hermione slurred to her in outrage. She turned to Ron. "Tell her that I don't need a breath mint," she breathed in his face.

Ron winced. Her breath smelled strongly of firewhiskey. "Of course you don't, Mione," he lied weakly.

"Ooo...Ron!" Ginny squealed, turning to her brother. "Have you asked Hermione to marry-opmhy-"

Ron moved away from Hermione and covered his sister's mouth in a panic. Fred and George were looking at him like he had gone bonkers, obviously knowing what Ginny was about to say.

"Are you completely mad?" The twins cried at him.

"Would you shut the bloody hell up!" Ron cursed at them, his hand still over his sister's mouth. He looked over at Hermione, who was busy spinning around in a circle. "I don't want her to hear anything."

"Hear what?" Hermione asked, popping up next to him.

"Nothing!" he replied hurriedly.

"Oh! You mean if I heard Ginny say if you had asked me to marry you." She giggled. "Of course you haven't asked me to marry you! That would be so silly."

The tip of Ron's ears turned red. "Please tell me that she won't remember any of this in the morning," he begged them.

Fred and George shifted uncomfortably.

"Well!" he roared.

"We don't know," Fred answered. "It's different for each person."

"Different?" Ron squeaked out, terrified.

"Some people remember stuff that happens when they get drunk and some don't," George answered this time. "She might remember bits and pieces of tonight."

"This is all of your fault! You just had to go and put firewhiskey in the punch!" Ron said, his face turning red in anger.

"We're sorry, Ron. We didn't know what you were planning to do!" protested George.

"Of course! You didn't know, so it makes every fucking thing alright! Well thanks for throwing the worst party ever!" he spat and stormed away. Fred and George looked at each other, completely guilt ridden.

"Did I do something wrong?" Ginny asked, oblivious.

"No...no," Hermione slurred to her. "I think that I did something wrong." She fell on the floor with an oomph.

"Hermione!"

"Was that Ron?" Harry said shakily, after seeing a blur of red run past them. He and Stephanie had been in the corner close to the Gryffindor portrait hole for the last hour and a half. Stephanie had bluntly told him that she wasn't drunk at all, because she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Then she said that she wouldn't mind going somewhere private.

"I don't know," Stephanie murmured against his throat, nipping the sensitive flesh on his neck.

"I-I-ne-ooo-need to go see if that was him," he stuttered in between moans.

She looked up at him with dark eyes. "It was probably just Hermione's cat or something." She slowly kissed her way up to his mouth.

"Right," he breathed out, "just Crooshanks," then pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

Ginny woke up on Sunday morning, in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, with the worst headache. No, not headache, hangover was more like it. "Bloody Fred and George," she groaned.

"Hiya, Ginnikens!"

Speaking of the demons.

"You!" She pointed her finger at them, her other hand holding her forehead. "You did this to me! You stupid fuc-"

"Ahh!" George yelled. "I think that we've corrupted our little sister," he said to Fred.

"I think you're right, Forge."

"Of course I'm right, Gred."

"Shut the hell up!" Ginny screamed. "Now give me some damn hangover potion, before I beat the shit out of you!"

"We have corrupted our little sister," Fred sniffed.

"Potion. Now," she demanded in a growl.

"Here." George handed her a vial of white liquid.

"You didn't do anything to it, did you?" She examined it closely.

"Nope. All you have to do is drink it. Fred and I have been using it ever since our fourth year when we started to have hangovers," George told her. "It even has a breath freshner. I also find that it helps to walk outside and get some fresh air afterwards."

She took the potion in one swallow, holding her nose. "Wonderful," she said dryly, looking around the trashed room.

"Um..." Fred started awkwardly. "We-"

"I already know what you're going to say. You want to know what to do about Hermione and Ron, right?" she guessed correctly.

"Yep," George replied. "Ron hasn't been back since last night and Hermione hasn't come down from her dormitory."

"I think that you should stay out of it," Ginny said. "You need to let them figure out things on their own, and when they're done, then you can apologize. I'm not saying that Ron will automatically forgive you, but he'll get over it eventually."

"Right." They gave her a small smile. "Well, thanks for the advice little sis." Fred patted her on the head.

"You're welcome." She smiled tiredly.

"So we heard about you and Malfoy," Fred replied. "Were you absolutely nutters? Did he put you under a spell or something?"

George scratched his chin. "Maybe that ferret put Ron and Ginny under a spell. That would explain why the both of them have been acting so bonkers."

"I don't really want to talk about Draco," Ginny warned.

"So it's Draco now, is it?" Fred asked, but was interrupted by his identical twin.

"You just better be glad that the rest of the family doesn't know. We had a hard time keeping it from Mum, Dad, Bill, Percy, and Charlie," George advised.

"Yeah, I don't think that she wants to talk about him anymore," Fred mocked. George still had another question to ask, and he couldn't do that if she was pissed off at the two of them.

"Thank you, George," Ginny gave Fred a glare.

"You're very welcome. So, do you have any idea as to what we should do about Alicia and Angelina?" George asked her hopefully.

"I think that you should figure that out on your own." She smirked.

"You aren't going out there in that outfit young lady!" Fred yelled when she started to leave.

"Wait, you have to help us!" This time it was George.

She ignored their pleas of help and walked out of the common room, heading outside for a breath of fresh air.

"It won't be long until Arthur Weasley is dead."

"Excellent." Voldemort sipped from his goblet of human blood and Lucius tried not to grimace.

"May I ask a question, my Lord?" his second in command replied.

"You may."

"Why do you drink human blood? It isn't as though you are a vampire."

"Of course I'm not a vampire," the Dark Lord scoffed. "I am much more powerful than any some creature of the darkness." Voldemort's cracked red lips smiled. "I drink the blood of a human, because it tastes pure, even better than unicorn blood. It consumes me, makes me stronger."

Even a person like Lucius couldn't help but shiver in disgust.

"You will learn in the future why I do some of the things that I do, Lucius."

"I have do not doubt you, my Lord."

Voldemort finished the goblet of blood and sighed in satisfaction. "Have you been keeping an eye on our dear Potion's professor?" he asked.

"He is the same as always." Lucius scowled. "Nothing indicating that he is unfaithful to you."

"You seem to be displeased with this." Voldemort observed.

"I do not trust him any longer."

"Well as soon as he proves that he is unworthy, you can kill him. But for right now, I need him at Hogwarts in case he is on my side. He could be of great help to us in the future."

"I agree," Lucius said, still smiling at the thought of being able to kill his long life so called friend. Ever since he had seen Narcissa with Snape those few months ago, he felt like cutting the man's throat. He had thought that torturing Narcissa would help his blinding rage, but he was wrong. Voldemort needed Severus for now, so no matter what, he wouldn't go against the Dark Lord's wishes.

"I would also like to say that I am very pleased with your son. More than a few of my servants informed me of his victory."

"Yes, I am as well. I couldn't be prouder of him if I tried. Getting that foul Weasley girl to admit her love for him in front of everyone." Lucius laughed coldly.

"You enjoy a little something like that?" Voldemort chuckled. "Dear Lucius, this is only the beginning."

"This is only the beginning."

Ginny walked down by the lake, breathing in the cool air. She could feel the potion clearing up her headache, making her eyesight clearer than before. She was pondering on whether her best friend's weird behavior and Draco's weird behavior were connected. And how could Draco have a reasonable explanation for the way that he acted? For some odd reason, Stephanie seemed to think that he did.

"Ginny."

Her head snapped up in surprise, brown eyes meeting grey.

"Draco," Ginny whispered. He was here, standing precisely ten feet away from her.

Draco's eyes drank in every inch of her and he swallowed hard. She was showing more skin than he ever remembered seeing. This was going to be alot harder than he had originally thought. "How are you?" he asked her softly. Asking a person how they were was always a good start.

"I'm.." She stopped suddenly and glared at him. "How am I? How do you think I am?"

He winced. "Right, stupid question."

"Why do you care anyway?"

"I care about anything that has to do with you," he answered honestly.

She snorted. "A Malfoy caring for a Weasley?"

"I guess I deserve that."

"You guess!" she yelled, overcome with emotion. Tears filled her eyes and she tried blinking them away.

Draco wanted to pull her in his arms and never let go.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now," she said, getting ready to leave.

"Ginny, wait!" He couldn't let her walk away from him without letting her know how he really felt.

"What do you want from me, Draco!" she cried desperately.

He walked to her and placed his hands on her face. "I want you, Ginny. Only you," he said, pulling her mouth to his.

Ginny whimpered as his tongue touched hers. She had missed this so much, it seemed like she hadn't kissed him in forever.

Draco sighed into her mouth, loving the feeling of her up against him. He loved her lips, her hair, her body. He loved that when she was angry she would tell you what was on her mind no matter what. He loved everything about her.

Draco loved her.

They both pulled away, gasping. "Ginny, I-" he started, looking at her flushed face.

"Yes?" she urged him to go on, slightly smiling.

"I-"

"Draco!" Pansy's whiny voice intercepted and he sprang away from Ginny in a flash.

"Pansy," he nodded at her, shrugging off Ginny's hurt gaze.

"What are you doing out here with the Weasley girl?" Pansy crept up to him, laying an arm on his shoulder.

"Nothing," he replied in a bored tone.

Ginny looked at him in anger. "Nothing!"

"Really? Nothing?" Pansy smiled evilly. "Because it looked like you were kissing her."

Draco forced his ice mask on and he smirked at the black haired girl. "Weasley came back for more. I was just giving her a little taste of what she'd been missing."

"You sick, son of a bitch!" Ginny screamed, slapping him in the face. He tried with all his might not to wince in pain from the blow, but more so because of her words.

Pansy smirked at Ginny. "You would think that after she knew everything between you two had been a bet, she would have enough pride and leave you alone." Pansy looked at her in disgust. "Although, she is just a Weasley."

"Bet?" Ginny whispered low enough so only he could hear her. "So, everything we had together was just a bet? Everything that happened between you and me?" A lonely tear made its way down her red tinted cheek.

Draco nodded and looked down to hide the tears in his eyes.

Ginny fought the scream of anger and hurt that she wanted to let out. Instead, she went back to Draco with what little bit of pride she had left. And she kissed him. She kissed him with more passion and love than ever before.

Pansy gaped at them in amazement.

Suddenly, Ginny pushed Draco away from her and smirked at both of their dumbfounded expressions. "That was just a taste of what you would have been missing." She glared at Draco. "And it won't ever happen again." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Not ever," she croaked. She turned and left with more dignity and power than she had ever felt before in her life. And it was the hardest thing that she had ever done.

Draco watched her leave, his eyes glazing over with unshed tears. Somehow he knew that he wouldn't be speaking to her for a long time.

Well I hope you liked it! Yeah, I know that it was kind of angsty, but you better get used to the angst, because there's alot more to come!

THANKS FOR REVIEWING!

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(Begging you on hands and knees!)

LilyK